Interactions at the solid/liquid interface, such as protein adsorption, cell adhesion, and bio-fouling, may be determined by the outermost surface of a substrate. In order to improve a product's interfacial properties, it is desirable to enhance or prevent wetness attributes associated with a particular substrate. For example, it has been desirable to advance technologies concerning wettability properties of particular products such as feminine care and incontinence articles, baby care products, fabric care products and generally, disposable articles in order to improve comfort. Many techniques have been employed to address these concerns but have failed to provide a commercially viable substrate that provides a diverse use within consumer care products.
For example, the Nanopin film was developed around 2005 possessing highly unusual hydrophobic properties. Such technology is characterized as having a “Lotus-Effect” whereby the surface exhibits a hydrophobic characteristic, i.e., extremely poor wettability characteristics and high liquid contact angles. A droplet of water that contacts the surface of the Nanopin film forms an almost perfect sphere with a wet contact angle of approximately 178°.
While hydrophobic surfaces such as Nanopin film may offer a number of commercial advantages, coating a surface of a substrate to provide such hydrophobic conditions fails to address the commercially viable concerns of being useful for a diverse array of uses. For example, it may be desirable to form or coat a surface to exhibit hydrophilic properties in a first instance but, upon application of an external stimulus, can switch to exhibit hydrophobic properties in a second instance. Another example may include the desire to form or coat a surface to exhibit hydrophobic properties in a final instance but requires the coating to be in an initial hydrophilic state in order to allow for a substance to disperse in an aqueous medium. Without being bound by theory, a consumer may desire a liquid solution, comprising hydrophilic particles, to be applied over a household surface for the purposes of cleaning. Upon deposition and drying, the hydrophilic particles may switch from the first hydrophilic state to a second hydrophobic state in order to prevent bio-foul matter such as biological fluid from adhering to the surface.
In order to enhance the wetness properties of a substrate for commercial use as shown above, there must be a teaching that allows for such occurrence of switching between hydrophilic and hydrophobic states, particularly upon application of an external stimulus and/or change in an environmental condition. Since the prior art fails to disclose such structures, much less methods of forming them, the present invention overcomes such deficiencies and shortcomings by the particles disclosed herein.